Meet Eric

Eric is 19 years old and majoring in computer science at Bakersfield College. He has Cerebral Palsy (CP), uses a wheelchair and has a busy life. Eric has been living with his parents while he finishes up his sophomore year classes. He has been accepted to UCLA and plans to start next year.

His love for computer science and his hard work have paid off. Besides making the Dean’s List at Bakersfield College, he was awarded a partial scholarship. Eric receives monthly income benefits of $825 from a Social Security Disability Insurance program called the Child Disability Beneficiary Program based on the earnings of his father. In addition to Social Security’s support, he has access to Medicare and Medi-Cal health coverage programs.

During the last two summers, Eric worked part-time at a local computer repair shop fixing and installing software – something he realized that he not only loved doing, but was really good at. The owner called him a “cracker-jack,” bragging to customers about Eric’s natural ability. “This guy can figure out any program!” And it seemed that Eric could. The pay was not much: about $300 per month. When he took the summer jobs, he was completely unaware of any consequences or complications on his other benefits, such as his Social Security and Medi-Cal, arising from his meager paycheck.

	Eric was offered a great new summer job. It was right up his alley.

This summer he was offered a job at Bakersfield College’s computer lab working at the help desk for $1,500 per month. “Yes!” Eric agreed, knowing this job not only paid better than his previous jobs had but would look great on his resume. What he didn’t realize is that this summer job wages were now enough to have an impact on his Social Security benefits and his Medi-Cal health coverage.

Focused on his future at UCLA, Eric attended a transfer-student fair, put on by his college’s student services. Amongst the credit card booths and academic advisors, Eric met Connie, an advisor for Disabled Student Services at one of the State Universities. After a lengthy conversation about college plans, Eric told her about his job and his career goals. Fortunately for Eric, Connie had some understanding about disability benefits through her job. “Your earnings might have an effect on your benefits,” she warned. “Send me an email and I’ll put you in contact with a trained benefits planner who can answer that question better.”

Eric feared that she might be right. He took her card knowing that this might be one “program” that an aspiring computer scientist might not be able to figure out by himself.